Hindu youth physically assaulted by Muslim mob and arrested by the police over allegations of 'blasphemy' in Bangladesh

Case ID : 9957cf8 | Location : Barisal District, Bangladesh | Date of Incident : Mon, 30 June, 2025

Case ID : 9957cf8

Barisal District, Bangladesh

30 June, 2025

Hindu youth physically assaulted by Muslim mob and arrested by the police over allegations of 'blasphemy' in Bangladesh

Attack not resulting in death

Attacked over 'Blasphemy'

Case Summary

In the Barishal district of Bangladesh, a Hindu man named Saikat Biswas was physically assaulted by a Muslim mob and handed over to the police over allegations of 'blasphemy' against the Prophet and the god of Islam. Reports suggest that Saikat, son of Kangal Biswas, originally a resident of Gopalganj, worked as an employee at a rice hotel near the Gournadi Upazila gate. Saikat was arrested in Barishal after a Muslim mob pursued and attacked him on the allegations of 'blasphemy'. Local Muslims claimed that three days prior to his arrest, Saikat made offensive comments about god and the Prophet of Islam. News of the incident spread rapidly, causing outrage. Subsequently, Saikat was physically assaulted by a Muslim mob and then handed over to the police. He was then arrested by the police on the allegations of 'blasphemy'. The Officer-in-Charge of Gournadi Police Station, Mohammad Yunus Miah, stated that legal proceedings against Saikat would be carried out. This incident reflects a troubling and recurring pattern across Bangladesh, where blasphemy accusations, often unverified or entirely fabricated, are weaponised to target Hindu minorities. Such cases are frequently followed by orchestrated campaigns of intimidation, social exclusion, and, in some instances, outright violence. The use of blasphemy as a tool for communal targeting not only endangers individual lives but also undermines the safety and rights of entire minority communities. This incident is one of the several incidents of the continued persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh, which has only increased manifold since the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government on August 5, 2024. After her violent ouster, Bangladesh has plunged into chaos as Islamist extremists have taken advantage of the political turmoil to unleash a wave of terror and violence against the Hindu community. The Islamist mobs have attacked Hindu homes, burned them to the ground, and abducted women in a horrific descent into anarchy. Several temples have been destroyed in various parts of the Islamic country in a major crackdown on Hindus. Reports have exposed how Muslim students forced around 60 Hindu teachers, professors, and government officials to resign. Exiled Bangladeshi activist Asad Noor has also revealed that the minority Hindu community is now being coerced into joining ‘Jamaat-e-Islami’. Hindu religious events have been repeatedly targeted. On 6th September, a procession carrying Lord Ganesha’s idol was attacked in Chittagong. Ahead of Durga Puja, multiple incidents of idol vandalism occurred, including attacks in Mymensingh, Pabna, Rajshahi, Kishoreganj, and Dhaka. On 29th November, a violent Muslim mob attacked three temples in Patharghata, Chittagong, immediately after Jumma Namaz. The crackdown on Hindu voices has also escalated. On 30th November, Hindu journalist Munni Saha was arrested in Dhaka. Muslim mob attacks have increased in Bangladesh, for example, on 22nd May 2025, a Muslim mob carried out arson attacks selectively on Hindu homes in Dahar Mashihati village in Abhaynagar upazila in Jessore district of Bangladesh. Even ISKCON leader Chinmoy Krishna Das Prabhu and his aides have been targeted, and attempts have been made to ban ISKCON and suppress Hindu protests through sedition charges. These arbitrary actions point to a systematic pattern of persecution under Muhammad Yunus’s interim government.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category - Attack not resulting in death. Within it, the sub-category selected is - Attacked over 'Blasphemy'. Blasphemy essentially refers to the desecration of anything which is held sacred/holy to a group of people. However, for religious supremacist groups, the elements of ‘blasphemy’ are ever-changing, shifting and expanding – leading to infringement on the rights of other religious groups, freedom of speech and expression, threats and even physical violence. There are instances where blasphemy is also used as a dog whistle to target Hindus owing to intrinsic animosity towards Hinduism. There are several instances where stating truths as mentioned in the non-Hindu doctrine itself has led to unmitigated violence against Hindus. There have also been instances where non-Hindus have themselves created a ‘blasphemous’ situation, like placing a Quran in a temple, to use it as an excuse to attack Hindus. Essentially, Blasphemy charges are often made up and/or are used to shut down any form of criticism of non-Hindu faiths and as a tool to target Hindus. Any physical violence over Blasphemy charges against Hindus are foundationally based on animosity for Hindus and their faith owing to religious supremacist ideologies, therefore, such attacks would be documented as religious motivated hate crimes under this category. The removal of Sheikh Hasina from power in Bangladesh on August 5, 2024, escalated the persecution and marginalisation of the Hindu minority in the predominantly Islamic nation, intensifying what can be described as a silent genocide. Since her exile, Muslim radicals have carried out unchecked atrocities against Hindus, including physical violence, the destruction of temples and religious symbols, and the systematic displacement of Hindus from their ancestral lands. Hundreds of attacks on Hindu temples, shops, and businesses have been recorded following Sheikh Hasina's removal as Prime Minister. Many Hindus have been brutally murdered or injured in Muslim mob attacks. Amidst these developments, reports have emerged of Muslims physically assaulting a Hindu man over unproven allegations of 'blasphemy' against the Prophet and the god of Islam. He was further arrested by the police over this alleged 'blasphemy'. In this case, it is highly possible that most Muslim mob likely had no idea what the Hindu boy actually said, but that hardly matters. They rally behind the Muslim crowd, driven more by deep-rooted bias against Hindus. In many such cases of alleged 'blasphemy', more often than not, especially during these waves of targeted violence against Hindus, Muslim mobs just need an excuse to attack non-Muslims, particularly Hindus. And that excuse is frequently "blasphemy." It has become a common and convenient trigger, fabricated or exaggerated, to justify a Muslim mob action against Hindus. The criteria for what constitutes blasphemy keep shifting, and in many cases, there's no actual offence, just a pretext born out of deep-seated animosity toward Hindus and their beliefs. The flexibility and vagueness of what constitutes blasphemy allow the Muslim extremists to weaponise it at will, making Hindus and other minorities easy targets in Bangladesh. Blasphemy laws, particularly in Muslim-majority countries like Bangladesh and Pakistan, are routinely weaponised to persecute Hindus. A mere allegation is enough to spark outrage, mob violence, and legal action, often placing minority Hindus at serious risk. Islamists have also historically used 'blasphemy' charges as a pretext to incite violence, settle personal scores, or intimidate Hindus into silence and submission. The disproportionate targeting of Hindus under these laws is not accidental but driven by deep-rooted religious prejudice, with blasphemy allegations serving as a tool to persecute the minority Hindu community. In this case, the Hindu victim, Saikat Biswas, was assaulted by a Muslim mob and then arrested by the police over unproven allegations of 'blasphemy'. This is not an isolated incident but a part of a larger, entrenched pattern of systemic religious persecution. Such allegations, often fabricated, are used to legitimise hate crimes and social ostracism against the Hindu community. Therefore, this case is being added to the hate crime database.